Love at first sight?
by illbeyourhimitsu
Summary: Shion has a normal life. The only excitement that ever happens, happens to his best friend, Safu. So upon seeing a beautiful girl singing, he can't help but fall in love. But is everything as it seems? AU.
1. Chapter 1

"Shion! You're coming to my house to celebrate your birthday with me, right?"

Shion looked up slightly at his grinning friend before promptly shutting his book.

"Of course, Safu," Shion said, giving her a reassuring smile, "I said I would come, and I always keep my promises, don't I?"

Safu replied with a nod, her grin only getting wider. Although Shion was oblivious to her affections for him, it was a well-known fact how Safu felt for Shion.

Realising that Safu was waiting for something, he titled his head slightly to the side in question. Safu rolled her eyes in response, grabbing his bag and lifting it onto the round table to push it towards him.

"The day's over; we're free to go," Shion's eyes widened in surprise, "You must've lost track of time reading that book." Shion nodded, standing up and slinging his messenger bag over his head and around his shoulder.

After returning the book, Safu and Shion walked down to the train station, chatting about how their day went, and which lesson they enjoyed the most. Stuff like that. They reached the station just in time, as the train pulled in just as they walked in. Hurriedly walking on, they validated their tickets before finding a comfortable spot for the both of them to sit at the back of the compartment. Fortunately for them, not many people lived in the same direction as them, or went shopping before going home, so the train was nearly empty, save for them and a few other people from their school. They could speak as loud as they wanted, though it was mainly Safu carrying the conversation, Shion nodding and smiling at the right intervals.

Their train ride went by quickly, and soon they had arrived at their stop.  
"Ah." Shion exclaimed as he stepped out of the train, for it had began to rain, quickly soaking his unusually white hair. He turned to Safu, who was still smiling. In her hand was an umbrella.

They used the umbrella against the rain for their walk to Safu's house, though it barely fit the both of them, and being the gentleman Shion was, he let Safu have more room, thus getting the left side of his shoulder drenched. Luckily for Shion the walk was brief.

Safu's house was large, like Shion's, very new age as they were newly constructed. It was surprising that Safu's family owned a house as large such as this although the only ones living there were Safu's parents and her grandmother.

~X~

"Happy Birthday, Shion!" Safu called out, holding out a jumper towards him. He took the jumper and put it on immediately, although Shion had many more clothes at home that suited him much better. He was happy to get anything from his best friend.

"Thank you, Safu. It's very warm." He gave her his best smile, and her cheeks coloured in response.

"I-well, Grandmother was really the one who made it. I told her you said you liked the one I had, so she made one for you." She said quickly, embarrassed, Shion only just barely making out her words.

They then ate some cake Safu had made for him, talking once more about school and their progress. It really was the only thing to talk about.

Before Shion was to leave, Safu said she had an announcement to make to him which she considered 'important', though Shion thought Safu told him everything, straight away, regardless of level of significance, so this announcement must be extra special

.  
"You know how well I've been doing in school," She began, Shion nodding at her words, and she breathed in deeply before continuing, as though it was difficult for her to say, "I've been chosen for the student exchange program."

Shion's eyes widened. He had heard of this before; it was one of the most prestigious opportunities the students could receive, and was always broadcasted all over the school when it came up, every two years. It was only once every two years because that was how long the exchange lasted. It was a completely different environment that the group would travel to, as well as another language that the school wasn't able to give full education of, as they only had one professor teaching it. The people who took the program were always the leading students, who wouldn't have to worry about exams right before graduation like the others, and could get into any university they wanted after graduation. It was only a small group, with a few select students. A few years ago, Shion was also planning on applying for it, but because of an incident, his grades dropped and he was no longer eligible.  
"When are you leaving?"

"This Friday."

"But that's so soon."

Safu nodded, "And there's something I wanted to asked you, but since it's your birthday today, I'll ask you the day before I leave." She smiled apologetically, for not telling him straight away like she usually did. Shion wondered what other things she hadn't told him.

Safu quickly glanced at the clock, and grabbed Shion's hands as she stood up, pulling him to his feet.

"It's time for you to go. Mama Shion will be waiting for you, won't she?"

Safu took Shion to the door to walk him out, when they noticed the rain had picked up once more, giving the ground a layer of running water. The air was misty, making Shion's vision a little hazy.

"Here," Safu pushed her not-yet-dry umbrella into his hands, "You can give it back tomorrow."

"Thanks, Safu."

They walked outside, Shion instantaneously opening the umbrella against the rain, only for it the wind to rip it out of his hands and tumbling along the roads. Shion turned to Safu with an apologetic smile on his face.

"I'll buy you a new one, I promise."

Safu shook her head, "No, it's fine. Maybe you should stay until the rain stops."  
"No, I'm late already," Shion said, grabbing his hood and yanking it over his head, though it didn't look like it would be much help against the rain, which was only getting stronger by the minute, "I should be going now." He began to walk down the steps going up to Safu's house

'Wait, Shion," Shion stopped to face her, as she skipped over to him and kissed him lightly on the cheek, "Happy Birthday." She mumbled before dashing back inside.

Shion smiled, before the rain began to hit and chill his face. He hurried off, eager to be in the own comfort and warmth of his own home.

~X~

Shion sneezed once more and covered his nose. He was definitely going to have a cold the next day. He felt terribly cold, almost freezing, chilled to the bone and soaked. Though he really wanted to get home, he wanted to get dry first. He decided that find somewhere to stay and wait for the rain to stop. If ever would stop.

The first thing he spotted was a church. All the shops and stores seemed closed, and god's house was always open, right? Shion rushed over to the big wooden door, and was about to knock the big iron knocker shaped in a lion's head, when he heard singing coming from inside.

Not wanting to interrupt, Shion slowly opened the door, wincing in fear of a potential creak. Fortunately it was silent, easily opening. Shion closed the door promptly, trying to keep the cold out. He took off his jacket and folded it over his arms, sitting down in one of the benches. When he looked up he saw a tall girl in a light blue flowing dress that fell to the floor, hiding her feet. She had shoulder-length blue hair that fell over her shoulders in tresses, scarlet lips, and gleaming silver eyes shining in the stage lights. She was gorgeous. Singing the most beautiful song he had ever heard.

Shion was star struck. His heart was pounding in his rib cage, as if it had been replaced with that of a hummingbird's.

Maybe this was…love?

**A/N  
Cookies for anyone who guesses what Safu wants to ask him, and who the girl is. Hm.  
Please review on whether you liked this or not, and should I continue?  
I personally like it so far, even if it is a little clichéd. *ahem*  
Anyway. Thanks for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

Tuesday morning, Shion got up. Had breakfast, brushed his teeth, met Safu at the train station, and went to school. Just like any other day. But not really. The entire time, he was…out of it, day dreaming, you'd call it. When Shion went to brush his teeth, his mother had to tap him on the shoulder to get him to stop. She appreciated him brushing his teeth properly, but doing it for almost ten minutes was a bit overboard.

Safu noticed it too. If she hadn't been there, he would've missed his stop completely. She smiled. Maybe he was acting so vacant because he was shocked over her leaving.

"Um, Shion," She said, nudging him once they got off the train, "Is something the matter? You seem a little…strange today."

Shion blinked, opening his eyes wide, "What? Strange? Why?"

Safu frowned. Hadn't he even noticed himself day dreaming? "Have you been thinking about something? Maybe…something happened?" She bit her lip to keep from smiling.

They arrived at their school, and just as they did, the bell went, marking the start of classes.

"I'm fine, Safu. I'll talk to you later." Shion said, walking a little quicker, and Safu ran to keep up with him.

"Wait, Shion, we have our first class together!"

Shion nodded, as if he knew this all along, "Right, of course. And that is…?"

Sighing, Safu pulled out her schedule, "Science. Really, Shion, you're acting so careless today." She remarked, as they headed to the science labs.

* * *

By the last class of the day, Shion was close to being his normal self again. He pushed all the thoughts of the girl out of his mind and decided to completely focus on taking notes. His last class, however, was English. Perhaps his worst. As a scientific kind of person, he preferred the classes that, well, involved science. His ambition was to be a doctor, after all.

This was also one of the few classes without Safu by his side, so instead of taking his usual place at the front of the class, he moved to a seat at the back by the aisle. He grabbed his notes and books and placed them on his desk. Skimming over the notes, he read through the discussions of his last class. Their topics were always hard for him to process, so he'd write down 60% of what the teacher said in class and study at home instead.

Their class topic at the moment was Shakespeare. As an advanced school, their English class was already expected to be fluent in the language. Shakespeare was difficult, but today Shion was more or less excited for it. The girl he had seen yesterday had been playing Ophelia, a character from the play Macbeth.

Oh, how he longed to see her again. He had waited for her long after the play ended, yet Shion never saw her leave. So he went home, feeling disappointed he couldn't even ask her for her name. He wondered what school she went to. If he was lucky, maybe she even went to the same as he did.

For now, he'd just have to look for her.

"In our previous lessons, if everyone recalls, we have been reading 'Macbeth.' If you've all done the homework I set for you over the weekend, you should have all read Act 5. Today I would like to focus on the famous quote of Act 5, Scene 5. Can anyone tell me what that is?"

A student sitting in the first row put his hand up. The teacher nodded at him, letting him speak. The person cleared his throat before he spoke in a loud, clear voice.

"The quote is, '_Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing._'"

"Beautifully spoken, Nezumi, thank you." The teacher began to speak of the scene, of Lady's Macbeth's death, but Shion had stopped listening.

That voice, Nezumi's voice, was so familiar. Shion frowned. Maybe he was forcing it to sound familiar. It could just be the Shakespearean quote. He was just wished he could see her again, but he didn't know how to find her

"So, Shion? Can you tell us the meaning? Or are you thinking about something more important than my lesson?" The teacher said, his arms crossed, a scowl on his face.

"What? No, of course not." Shion replied quickly. As silence followed, Shion spoke up again, "Oh, you want me to answer that?"

The teacher nodded, tapping his foot.

Shion ruffled his white hair, chuckling, "I thought it might be about Macbeth realising how meaningless life is after his wife died?"

The teacher slowly nodded, though seemed unconvinced, "Well, close, but no cigar. Might somebody else have an idea?" The same hand from before, Nezumi's, shot up, "Nezumi?"

"Shakespeare is saying that life has no originality anymore; we all have the same emotions, habits, and fears as our ancestors. We're just walking in the shadows of those who lived before us. When we die, we are never heard of again like a shadow that has left the stage. Life is lived full of energy, ambitions, hope, but in the end, it means nothing." He said, his cheek rested on his fist.

"Yes, exactly." The teacher continued to speak of Macbeth's anguish over his wife's death, but again, Shion was lost in thought. That boy, Nezumi (strange name, perhaps a nickname?), he was clever with words. And how did he know so much about Shakespeare?

* * *

When class ended, Shion quickly walked down to the front, looking for Nezumi. Rather difficult, seeing as he didn't know what the boy looked like. Sitting right at the back, the only person's face he could see properly was the teacher's.

Just then, a boy talking to the teacher began walking back to his desk. The teacher stopped him, with a call of, "Nezumi, also, well done on your recitals."

Nezumi turned back with a smile, "Thank you, sir."

Shion stared at him. He was tall, handsome, with short blue hair in a ponytail, and his eyes were silver_. _Ash-coloured and unwavering. Familiar was an understatement. If the girl he had seen yesterday were born a male, this is what she'd look like.

Shion's heart started hammering in his chest just from looking at him.

Nezumi continued to gather his things from his desk, and leave.

"Oh, wait!" Shion exclaimed, latching on to Nezumi's arm. Nezumi shook him off, and turned sharply to glare at him.

"What do you want?"

Shion flinched, "Sorry, I was just…"

"Well?"

"Do you have a twin? A sister, maybe?" He asked hesitantly, pulling his books tighter to his side.

Nezumi smirked, "Why? I get it, you like my looks but you're a homophobe?"

Shion could feel his face heat up, "What? No, there was a girl…" But Nezumi had already stopped listening. He was walking out the door with a wave.

"Sorry, I have a job to get to… If you want to talk, sit next to me in class for once."

Shion sighed, headed out the door, and watched Nezumi's retreating back in the other direction.

"Shion! Let's go home," Safu skipped up to him and slung her arm through his, "What is it? Something the matter?" She asked for the second time that day.

Shion shook his head, "No, it's nothing. We can go home."

* * *

**A/N: This chapter turned out to be better than I thought it would.**

**Thoughts? Comments? Feedback?**


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